


A New Trickster

by Nagiru



Category: Persona 5
Genre: (like in "Game Over"), Angst, Gen, Goro is a child (and very much in denial), Humor (attempted), Lavenza is creepy and does not understand human customs, Oh right "Major Character Deaths" because of prompt, The Velvet Room (Persona Series), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-16 18:32:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11834568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nagiru/pseuds/Nagiru
Summary: Finding failure before the False God, Lavenza decides her best bet is to go to the past and find herself a whole new trickster for herself. After all, maybe this is her chance of righting the wrongs yet to come — both for herself and, maybe, for the Wild Card that everyone let down.Written for thePersona Kink Meme.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt asked for a story where the Phantom Thieves failed during the battle against Yaldabaoth, and Lavenza decides to go to the past to, you know, help Goro on _his_ journey, since the poor kid was selected for failure and everything. I read the prompt, found it to be promising, and thought, "Why not?"  
>  So, this story has two chapters and is already complete. I will be posting the second part tomorrow, don't worry.  
> For a head's up: the angst is pretty much focused on the first chapter, and the comedy on the second. So, don't expect anything light-hearted on the first chapter, okay? Also, the second part is longer and the main part itself, with the first chapter serving as a way of understanding Lavenza's head and such, so...
> 
> Well, hope you enjoy it.
> 
>  **DISCLAIMER:** Persona 5 and the characters present on this story do not belong to me, but to Atlus and whoever else made them up. The original prompt is from an anon from [Persona Kink Meme](http://personakinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/993.html?thread=483809#cmt483809), and I only wrote this story for my own (and the OP's, I guess) entertainment.

The fall came as a big hit on Lavenza’s heart. She had watched them grow, watched them struggle, watched the boy — because he was just that, wasn’t he? — gear up to protect his friends, stand up before adults using their power for their own gains, and fight against a _God_. Lavenza had watched this boy, this Wild Card, this Trickster of hers, the one she had nurtured as a broken soul, grow up and fight, and she had thought, _“he will win, surely.”_

She had _hoped_ he would win. For her. For Caroline and Justine, the parts of her she was not, the parts of her she had become and had left behind. For Igor, who had _at last_ got back to the Room. For his friends, who supported his choices by his side, weapons at hands, wishes on their hearts. For the world, broken and frayed, on the edge of destruction. For Goro Akechi, the Wild Card she had failed so utterly.

Yet — here they were, fallen. Broken. Defeated. Worst for wear than ever. Utterly… lost. Beyond redemption, any hope escaped from her hands. Her own struggles, her own attempts, _useless_.

Akira Kurusu — the most promising Wild Card she ever met, the one that had been gifted to _her_ , her own Trickster, given so that she could nurture him into his potential…

And, in the end, she had failed. Dead eyes, staring into a sky taken by blood, by corruption, by the darkness of the human heart. Dead eyes, staring at nothing, forever bloodied. Dead eyes — just like the eyes of that other Wild Card, the one without assistance, the one that had been chosen by the false god. The eyes of the Wild Card who had been corrupted from the beginning, the one who had tried to kill her Trickster, the one who had, in the end, sacrificed himself for the good of all.

Dead eyes for a soon to be dead world.

After hearing tales of all her sisters, after hearing about all the Wild Cards that roamed the Earth, Lavenza had hoped to succeed on her mission. Had been _looking forward_ to tell her own stories to her big sisters, tell them how _her_ Wild Card was the best of all. How _her_ Wild Card had saved the world… how _her_ Wild Card had survived…

Except, it had not. It had not saved the world. It had not survived. This Trickster wasn’t even _hers_ , was it? Guided from the beginning by Morgana, the last creation of Igor before the false god could take over the Room. Guided by the image of _Hope_. Nurtured by a broken soul.

She had no stories. She had no future. She had no Trickster.

Lavenza had… nothing. Nothing — just like the false Wild Card. The doomed for failure from his first breath. An Assistant without a Wild Card. A Wild Card without Guide.

Maybe that was the whole problem. Maybe that was the solution. Maybe the whole thing had come to this end — to this broken thing — because no one was supposed to be left alone. No Assistant, born of the Velvet Room, should fail in guiding a Wild Card, and no Wild Card should be born without an Assistant, without access to the Room.

Maybe the whole battle had failed because the past was already broken. Maybe the future could only be corrected if she were to correct the past itself.

Maybe — maybe Lavenza should use the fact that the Room was nowhere in the world, nowhere in the sea of souls, nowhere in the timeline, and should open a new door on the _past_. Maybe Lavenza should find her own Trickster in Goro Akechi, the orphan, and offer the failed Wild Card a chance of redemption before any sin was to be committed. A chance of correcting the wrongs not done yet.

A chance to correct the wrongs of the boy — and a chance to correct her own wrongs, as well.


	2. Chapter 2

Unfortunately, it turned out that getting to the past was the easy part. Even with the past Room already under the false god’s control, Lavenza managed to sneak out of it easily enough, and one look around and she could see she was on her desirable time.

She even managed to get to the mostly right place, if the pull she could feel was correct.

She had not, however, expected humans to think that she was a human child. She was _clearly_ beyond humanity! She was an Assistant made by Igor! She was one of the guides of humanity! She was ageless, just as she was the youngest of Igor’s Assistants! How could these, these _humans_ call her a _child_?!

But — no, that was okay. They were saying she could stay here. Oh. Alright, then.

“Come with me, child, I will show you your room. What is your name?” the woman that _looked_ to be in charge asked, guiding her through strange ways.

“My name is Lavenza,” she answered primly, looking around with curiosity. Was this where her Trickster lived? It seemed so. The pull seemed to come from somewhere in the direction to where she was being guided to. “And you, who are?”

The woman glanced back at her, opening a door that led into a room with beds. “That is a curious name… I am the mother of this Foster Home. My name is Miyuki Sawada, but you can call me Miyuki, if you wish to; my husband is already called Sawada by every other child in this place.”

Lavenza took another second to look around the new room — three beds. Miyuki mentioned other children. Maybe her Trickster lived with other children? “Are there three children here, then?”

Miyuki laughed a little, “No. This is the girl’s room. You shall be rooming with another girl only, but there are also other four boys in the House. The last two girls were… transferred.”

Lavenza hummed, but nodded. It didn’t matter to her; all she got from this information was that she wouldn’t be in the same room as her Trickster, and that wouldn’t do. Maybe she could sneak into his room in the night, since she didn’t particularly need sleep. Or maybe she could sneak him into her room, so he would be less vulnerable…

As soon as the woman left, saying something else that Lavenza ignored, Lavenza made to the window, to observe for possible weak spots on her defense. If they were attacked from above… This would be a problem… Maybe Lavenza should stuck to her Trickster the whole time, make sure nothing touched him… Yes, yes, that would be the best idea. This place was ridiculously open for attacks. She could not risk her Trickster dying on her again.

Satisfied, she nodded and left the room, following the pull to another room two doors down the way. This room, she found out when she opened the door, was cluttered with more beds and many… _things_ … on the ground. Traps, perhaps. Maybe her Trickster was trying to protect himself. She doubted they were particularly effective, but she could commend him on the attempt, at least.

“I have found you at last, Trickster,” she breathed, seeing her target on the closest bed to the door. A strategic choice — close to the escape route. Of course, it was also close to where the attackers should come from, but he was still a child. She could forgive him this time. “It is nice to see you looking well.”

The boy looked up startled, staring at her in confusion; there was no one else in the room for her to be talking to. Every other child was out — playing, Goro knew; Lavenza thought they were fighting, from their sounds —, and Goro had hidden away in the room so no one would bother him. Yet, here was this stranger, talking to no one, but staring directly at him.

Was she talking to him, then? “Me?” he asked confusedly.

“Of course. Who else would be my Trickster? No one in this place has such a power as you,” she answered scoffing. “That said, you are the only one that I would call mine.”

“Look,” he began cautiously, “I am sorry, but I don’t know what you are talking about. My name is Goro Akechi, not… Trickster… or whatever. And I certainly do not know you.”

Lavenza nodded, “No, you do not. But I know you. Yes, I know you are named Goro Akechi. However, that does not stop you from being my Trickster. You are my Trickster _because_ you are Goro Akechi. No one else would do.”

“I… don’t think you understood what I am talking about, did you?” Goro sighed tiredly, putting his book down. “I think you are mistaken. I never met you before. Maybe you are confusing me with someone else.”

With a scoff, Lavenza went on, never looking away from him. “Goro Akechi. Ten years old. Orphan. This is your fourth home, counting with the one you shared with your mother for the first days of your life. Your grades are always on the top 5, and you hate living here.”

And maybe all these facts had come from watching Akira on her past life, but he did not need to know that.

“As I said, I know you. I came to guide you, so you shall achieve your destiny without falling to the ruins of revenge because of the game a false god plans on playing with you,” she offered, trying to buy his trust. “I will protect you, and train you, and you shall rise to your true potential by the end of our acquaintance.”

Goro stared back at her for a couple more seconds, before groaning loudly and dropping his head on his hands. This girl was a _weirdo_. Why did he always attract all the weirdos on his life?

 

* * *

 

For the next weeks, Goro tried to live her life as usual. He tried to ignore the new girl on the Foster House, tried to go to school like always, tried to keep his grades on the top 5, and tried to avoid everyone else in the House — like he said, _as usual_.

Instead, he would wake up in the morning, and the girl — Lavenza, he discovered — would be standing there, looking at him. When he tried to go to the bathroom, she would follow him; and, instead of taking care of herself, no, she would keep _staring at him_ , as if he was a TV show or something. The one time he tried to force her to brush her teeth or something, she kept staring at the toothbrush as if it were an alien coming to kill her, and he had had to _teach her_ how to brush her teeth. And the girl looked to be _seven_ at the youngest! And not only brushing his teeth; if he tried to use the toilet, or take a shower, the girl never _left_. She just… stood there. Watching. When he managed to push her out of the bathroom, she had been waiting just outside of the door, when he came out, and he was embarrassed the whole day, thinking she had heard him.

The worst, however, was that she followed him _everywhere_. If he stepped outside, she would be by his side, stuck like glue. If he went to the library, she would stay just a step behind him, silent as the dead, “watching out for threats”. If he _went to school_ , she would come with! She had even, somehow, managed to convince his teachers to let her watch his classes, even though she wasn’t actually _enrolled_ in the school, and she would stand beside him.

But — but she also kept good on her promise. Despite still having trouble with _traffic lights_ , one day she managed to save his life from being run over by a car that ignored the red light. And on one memorable occasion, she also stopped a thief from leaving with everything Goro had, using nothing more than a nearby twig.

And, you know, it wasn’t like he _liked_ her. He still had stop her from times to time from beating some innocent in the street, because she thought that was the way of winning money. And her questions were the most _strange_ ones in the world, things like, “Why are there people kissing?” and “What is that?” pointing to a _fountain_ , or even, you know, “Why do you go to school?” and such. And she was goddamn _creepy_ , with her staring, watching him sleep, and all the stalking…

But she protect him, she helped him, and, sometimes, she would talk to him when everyone else seemed to run away from him, because he was an undesirable child. She never seemed bothered by _anything_ (not even personal space or modesty, apparently), and would give crap to anyone that bothered _her_ … or him. And, well, it wasn’t like he _wanted_ to go to juvie, okay; he only protected her from the adults around (people like, you know, Miyuki, that seemed to finally realize that there was something wrong with Lavenza, because she was _creepy_ ) because they tried to throw him inside with her. Really.

Nothing at all related with the fact that she made him smile, sometimes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. The End and things. I kinda wanted to add some snippets of Goro grown up, finding the Metaverse and fighting alongside Lav... but it didn't fit the timeframe, and, well, I didn't know what exactly to write, so it stopped there.  
> I hope you enjoyed the story ^^


End file.
